Rapid and sensitive detection of tert-butylhydroquinone in soybean oil using a gold-based paper sensor

tert-Butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) residues in foods pose a threat to human health. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a rapid method for TBHQ detection. In this study, a sensitive monoclonal antibody 5C3 (IgG2a subclass) against TBHQ was produced. It possessed a half maximal inhibitory concentration of 7.43 ng mL^-1. A gold nanoparticle-based immunochromatographic assay (ICA) was established for the rapid and sensitive screening of TBHQ in soybean oil. Qualitative analysis results were obtained within 10 min and observed with the naked eye. The visual limit of detection (LOD) was 50 ng g^-1 and the cut-off value was 1000 ng g^-1. A hand-held strip reader was used for quantitative analysis, in which the calculated LOD was defined as 18.68 ng g^-1. The average recoveries of TBHQ ranged from 89.55% ± 2.70% to 100.66% ± 3.02% for soybean oil, with a coefficient of variation of 2.89%-7.05%. Therefore, our developed ICA is a useful tool for the rapid and on-site detection of TBHQ in real food samples.